Alex Salmond’s hopes of winning the independence referendum suffered a
damaging setback after a survey showed support for separation has dropped to
a record low of only 23 per cent.

A detailed report by ScotCen Social Research showed support for independence dropped nine points last year, while backing for remaining part of the UK increased eight points to 72 per cent.

Almost two-thirds of people in Scotland were “quite” or “very” worried about the prospect of breaking away from the rest of the UK and increasing numbers said they thought they would be worse off financially.

Worryingly for Mr Salmond, support for his keynote policy of separation has fallen since the SNP took power at Holyrood in 2007 despite his landslide re-election victory four years later.

Professor John Curtice, one of Britain’s leading elections experts, who conducted the annual survey, said the independence debate has moved to the top of the Scottish political agenda over the past year.

“Yet the proponents of independence have apparently struggled to capitalise on the resulting opportunity to persuade Scots of the merits of their case. Instead more voters appear to have become concerned about the prospect of leaving the UK,” he said.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, said: “This survey shows Alex Salmond is failing spectacularly to sell his dream of separation to the people of Scotland, who are growing increasingly sceptical about the concept.

“The public is losing trust in the First Minister, trust in the Scottish Government and, as a result, trust in their obsession with splitting up the UK.”

The annual Scottish Social Attitudes survey polled 1,229 people about their views on the constitution between July and November last year, by which time Mr Salmond was being accused of lying about the EU.

It shows support for independence has fallen from a high of 35 per cent in 2005 to 23 per cent last year, matching the record low support for separation recorded in 2010.

Despite the SNP’s pro-Europe stance, around a third of those backing independence said Scotland should also stay out of the EU.

Support for independence averaged 30 per cent between 1999, when devolution started, and 2006. But the report said this figure has fallen to 26 per cent since 2007, when Mr Salmond came to power.

The research found fewer people are optimistic about the ramifications of separation than 12 months ago, with the proportion who think it would give Scotland a stronger voice in the world dropping from 51 per cent to 42 per cent.

People were also more anxious about the prospect of independence, with 59 per cent saying they would be ‘quite’ or ‘very’ worried by independence, up from 46 per cent in 2011. Only 21 per cent said they felt confident about the prospect.

Neither did they believe the pro-separation Yes Scotland campaign’s clams that independence would lead to a fairer society.

Only 19 per cent thought the gap between rich and poor would close, with 25 per cent saying it would increase and 47 per cent answering it would make no difference.

Prof Curtice said the figures suggest the issue is not central to most voters. The same proportion of people (34 per cent) thought Scotland’s economy would improve after independence as predicted it would decline.

Half of Scots want a devolved parliament in the UK with some tax powers, while 11 per cent wanted the Treasury to control all taxations and a further 11 per cent wanted to abolish devolution altogether.

Around two-thirds of respondent said they wanted Holyrood to have control over all financial powers – so-called ‘devo max’ – but most said they wanted Westminster to make decisions about defence and foreign affairs.

Blair Jenkins, Yes Scotland’s chief executive, argued the poll results were already out of date despite their compilation finishing only two months ago.

“We have to persuade those who believed that devo-max was their preferred choice, not to mention the one in four undecided voters still out there,” he said.

“This debate has a long way to go and we at the Yes Campaign are confident that we will deliver a positive result in autumn 2014.”